Washing machine



Feb. 5, 1935. CREETH r AL 1,989,916

WASHING MACHINE Filed Feb. 25, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet J -14 will produce oscillation of the agitator.

the spindle sufliciently to bring the gear 23 opposite to the rack bar.

It is now clearthat the spindle 14 may be either rotated or oscillated, according to the position of the clutch member 20.

A means is provided to transmit motion of the spindle 14 to the agitator 11 and, in this instance, this is eilected as follows: Secured to the spindle 14 is a clutch member 4'1 which, when the spindle is raised into its upper position, engages with an internal clutch member 48 formed in the upper end of the stem 13 so that when the clutch members 4'1, 48 are engaged, oscillation of the spindle A suitable means is provided for eifecting raising of the basket 9 and, in this instance, this means is constructed as follows: R/otatably mounted on the bearing 15 is a hollow screw 49 of which the thread is external. This screw 49 is turned when the clutch member 4'1 is in engagement with another clutch member 50 formed in the upper end of said screw 49. The clutch members 48 and 50, in this instanceare in the form of internal spur gears while the-clutch member 4'1 is also in the form of a gear adapted to engage either of the clutch members 48, 50, according to the position of the spindle 14.

Beneath the basket 9 is a nut on-whlch the basket rests,'said nut, in this instance, comprising segmental sections 51 which are pivoted at one end at 52 to a bearing member 53 that constitutes a portion of the basket bottom, said bearin member 53 being tubular and surrounding the screw 49 but being out of engagement with said screw. when. the nut sections 51 are closed together the threads of said sections engage the thread of the screw 49 so that when the screw 49 is rotated the nut will ride up the screwto near the upper end thereof. The nut in its ascent carries the basket with it and when the basket reaches its upperposition, ashoulder 54 in the groove of the screw thread of one of the nut sections51 is engaged by a shoulder 55 on the screw 49 which, since it is rotating, then causes the basket 9 to rotate. When the basket contains, for example, articles that are to be laundered, the rotary motion of the basket is -ltransmitted to said articles and from said articles to the-agitator,

thus rotating the agitator with the basket.

The nut sections may be operated into open and closed positions by any suitable means and, in the present instance, the construction relied upon includes a pair of links 56 pivotedat'5'1 to the respective nut sections 51 and pivotalLv connected at 58. Pivoted at 59, substantially midway of the links 56, are other links 60 which are pivotally connected at 61, the pivot 61 also connecting the links 60 to the fork 62 of the operating rod 63 which extends horizontally beneaththe bottom of .the basket to one side thereof. I Theouter end of the rod 63'is pivoted at 64 to a crank arm 65 that is fixed to a rock shaft 66 that turns in bearings 6'1 secured to the peripheral wall of the basket. The shaft 66 extends to the top of the basket and is there provided with a handle 68 whereby the rock shaft may be ieadily turned. The rock shaft is prevented from downward movement by a collar 69 thereon engaging the upper face of one of the bearings 6'1.

It is desirable that, when the basket is revolving, any liquid; that may be sprayed on the articles'within the basket, in discharging through the openings 10, will not contaminate the liquid bath within the tank 8 and, accordingly, we have provided an annular trough '10 that extends members 4'1, 48 to around the inner face of the tank and that is suitably attached thereto. The trough '10, in this instance, is positioned midway of the height of the tank or approximately at the level of the bottom of the basket when the basket is in its raised position. The trough '10 is provided with an outlet '11 that opens through the side of the tank and that, in this instance, communicates with a pipe '12 provided with a valve '13.

If desired, the tank may be mounted on a suitable carriage, such as that indicated by the character '14, said carriage, in this instance, being provided with castors 75 so as to enable the tank to be readily moved from one location to another.

Assuming, for example, that the articles to be operated on by the centrifuge are articles that are to be laundered, the invention operates as follows: The tank 8 will be supplied with wash water and soap and the will be placed in the basket 9. The handle 68 will be operated to a position that will spread the nut sections 51. The clutch member 20' 'will be operated into a position to free it from the clutch member 21 thus, at the same time, causing the gear 23 to engage the rack bar 44 and the clutch engage. The motor will now be switched on, thereby causing oscillation of the agitator 11 so as to wash the articles in a manner well understood in the washing machines that are provided with this type of agitator. After the agitator has been operated a suilicient length of time to effect cleansing of the articles, the operator will operate the handle 27 into a position to engage the clutch members 20, 21, disengage the 'gear 23 from the rack bar 44, disengage the clutch members 4'1, 48 and engage the clutch members 4'1, 50, thereby efiecting a rotation of the screw 49. The operator will then move the handle 68 into a position that will close the nut sections 51 into engagement with the thread of the screw 49, resulting in the nut, and with it the basket, being raised from the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 3 to the position indicated in broken lines. As the basket rises, .the wash water drains from the articles and the -basket-through the openings 10 and when the basket reaches its upper position the shoulders 54, 55 will engage, thus causing the stem to revolve and with it the basket and. the articles therein. The centrifugal force set up by this rotation forces the wash water out of the articles being laundered and this water passes through the openings in the peripheral wall of the basket and is thrown against the inner face of the upper portion 0! the tank whence it drains trough '10 which overflows into the tank, the valve '13 being closed. when wash water is no longer being expelled from the articles, the valve '13 will be opened so as to discharge'any water that thereafter enters the pipe 72therefrom,

and the articles may then be rinsed by sprayin them with clear water while the basket is rotating. The rinse water will be thrown out into the trough '10 and will pass into the pipe '12, and thence to a waste line, not shown.

- The articles, after thus being rinsed, may then be removed from the basket and the basket lowered and a fresh supply of articles be placed therein for washing and rinsing by repeating the cycle of operations above described.

To lower the basket, the handle 68 will be moved into a position to spread the nut sections 51 so as to disengage them from the thread articles to be launderedart relating to downwardly into the the screw 49, whereupon the basket will be caused to descend by its own weight until the nut 51, 51 comes to rest on the flange 16.

We claim:

1. A washing machine including a tank, a screw rotatably mounted in the tank, a basket in the tank, nut sections movably connected with the basket and engageable with the thread of the screw when said sections are closed together, an agitator movably mounted in the basket, clutch members on the screw and agitator, a third clutch member shiftable alternately into engagement with the first mentioned clutch members, and a means operable to either oscillate or rotate the third clutch member according as to whether the third clutch member is engaged with the clutch member on the agitator or with the clutch member on the screw, respectively.

2. A washing machine including a tank, a hollow screw rotatably mounted in the tank, a basket in the tank, nut sections movably connected with the basket and engageable with the thread of the screw when said sections are close together, an agitator movably mounted in the basket, clutch members on the screw and on the agitator, a spindle mounted to move 'endwise within the screw, a clutch member on the spindle adapted when the spindle is moved to one position to engage the clutch member on the agitator and whenthe spindle is moved into another position to engage the clutch member on the screw, cooperating means on the screw and nut adapted to engage when the basket is raised by the nut to cause rotation of said basket, and means operable selectively to oscillate and rotate the spindle.

3. A washing machine including a tank, a hollow screw rotatably mounted in the tank, a basket in the tank, nut sections movably connected with the basket and engageable with the thread of the screw when said sections are close together, an agitator movably mounted in the basket, clutch members on the screw and on the agitator, a spindle mounted to move endwlse within the screw, a clutch member on the spindle adapted when the spindle is moved into one position to engage the clutch member on the agitator and when the spindle is moved into another position to engage the clutch member on the screw, means on the screw adapted to engage with the nut when the nut is raised by the screw to cause rotation of said nut and basket, a fourth clutch member mounted on the spindle, a fifth rotatably mounted clutch member engageable by the fourth clutch member when the spindle is in the second mentioned position, a means to rotate the fifth clutch member, and a means to oscillate the spindle when the fourth and fifth clutch members are disengaged.

4. A washing machine including a tank, a basket rotatably mounted in the tank, an agitator rotatably mounted in the basket, a motor. a means operable by the motor to raise the basket, a means operable by the motor to oscillate the agitator while the basket is in its lower position,

and a means automatically operable by the basket raising means when the basket reaches its upper position to rotate the basket.

5. A washing machine including a tank, a basket rotatably mounted in the tank, an agitator rotatably mounted in the basket, a motor, mechanism driven by the motor operable to raise the basket and to thereafter automatically rotate it while maintaining it in raised position and to oscillate the agitator while the basket is in its lower position, and means to control said mechanism to obtain the different operations at will.

6. A washing machine comprising a tank, a basket rotatably mounted in said tank, a shaft movable between an upper and a lower position, means for rotating said shaft, a hollow screw rotatably mounted vertically in said tank concentrically about said shaft. clutch means for rotatably connecting said shaft to said screw in response to downward movement of said shaft, means attached to said basket having threads registerable with said screw whereby said basket and threaded means attached thereto are elevated with respect to said screw by relative rotation therebetween, and means for forcing rotation of said basket with said screw after a predetermined relative movement therebetween.

7. A washing machine including a tank, a perforated basket rotatably mounted in the tank, a threaded. member attached to said basket, a rotatably mounted screw having threads engageable with said'first threaded member whereby rotation of said screw with respect to said basket moves said first threaded member and said basket upwardly along the screw cooperating stops on said screw and on said threaded member respectively for limiting upward movement of said basket in response to the rotary motion of said screw with respect to said basket and causing them to rotate together thereafter, said stops having cooperating impact faces substantially in radial planes with respect t6 the axis of said screw whereby rotation of said screw with respect to said threaded member is limited without wedging the screw and the threaded member together. 8. A washing machine comprising a tank, a

basket rotatably mounted in the tank and movable between lower and upper positions therein, an agitator rotatably mounted in said tank within said basket, a basket-raising means comprising a vertical screw concentrically positioned within said basket and a cooperating nut means secured to said basket, means for preventing relative rotation between said screw and nut when said nut means reaches a predetermined height on said screw, driving means comprising a rotating member and an oscillating member, and means for selectively coupling either said screw to said rotating member or said agitator to said oscillating member.

GEORGE A. CREETH.

LESTER P. PHILP.

WALTER A. LINDSAY. 

